Netflix Is Starting to Help Bridge Animation’s Massive Gender Gap

Animation has a gender problem. Though the worlds of children’s animation and adult animation have become better in recent years when it comes to portraying complicated, realistic female leads, the showrunners behind these series are still overwhelmingly male. Thankfully, with the premieres of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Tuca & Bertie, Big Mouth, and a handful of other upcoming projects, Netflix is starting to change that.

First, there were children’s animated shows like Pinky Malinky, Hilda, and Voltron: Legendary Defender. All three of the beloved Netflix originals are credited as having female co-creators: Rikke Asbjørn, Stephanie Simpson, and Lauren Montgomery respectively. However, Noelle Stevenson’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is one of the few animated shows fully in the hands of a female showrunner and animator.

Photo: Netflix

“I think that [the animation industry has] changed a lot even in the last three, four years. When I got into the television business six years ago, there was only one show currently airing with a main female character,” Stevenson added. “That was something kind of disheartening looking at the industry. Now we are so fortunate because we are going to see all of these shows coming up that feature a female protagonist, which is so exciting. It’s always a push and pull. There have been times in the past where there have been more girl-centric shows on air. But I hope this is the start of women getting to tell their stories. None of us have to be the one girl show anymore.”

Though She-Ra is beloved by audiences of all ages, there are currently no adult animated comedies exclusively from female showrunners on television. Big Mouth comes close with a four person creative team that includes producer Jennifer Flackett, and later this year Fox will premiere Emily Spivey’s Bless the Harts. But with the premiere of Lisa Hanawalt’s Tuca & Bertie, Netflix is breaking that mold.

Photo: Netflix

“[BoJack Horseman and Tuca & Bertie] are produced by Tornante, so most of my interactions are with Tornante executives, but Netflix has been a very good partner creatively, because they’re open to whatever,” Hanawalt, Tuca & Bertie creator and BoJack Horseman producer, told Decider. “They want their shows to be unique and entertaining and true to their creators voices.”

There have been amazing creators through the years who have broken through animation’s glass ceiling, like Rugrats co-creator Arlene Klasky, As Told By Ginger creator Emily Kapnek, Pepper Ann and Angela Anaconda creator Sue Rose, and My Gym Partner Is a Monkey Julie McNally-Cahill. But today’s animation landscape is still very much a boy’s game. Sure Daron Nefcy has Disney XD’s Star vs. the Forces of Evil and the great Rebecca Sugar has Steven Universe. But when you tally up the full list of female show-runners for currently running animated shows, it’s a very short list.

As for Hanawalt, she has a few theories about why this gender divide has perpetuated.

“Most of them have to do with outright misogyny, but then also subtle misogyny. Just all forms of misogyny are to blame. You have executives at Adult Swim who just outwardly don’t believe that women can create equal content to men, which is really insane, and they get to continue working after saying this stuff out loud to the public.”

Hanawalt is likely referring to a response Adult Swim Senior Executive Vice President Mike Lazzo gave in 2016. After Megh Wright wrote a piece for Vulture highlighting that of the 47 creators listed for Adult Swim series none of them were women, Lazzo stuck up for his controversial quotes and the network’s lack of female creators on Reddit. “What I actually said was-women don’t tend to like conflict, comedy often comes from conflict, so that’s probably why we (or others) have so few female projects,” Lazzo wrote.

At the time some publications noted that Lazzo’s response failed to apologize for the network’s lack of diversity. It should be noted that Adult Swim does now have some female creators in its ranks. Lauren Payne co-created the soap opera parody Tender Touches alongside Maxime Simonet and David Bonawits. Also Adult Swim has produced two Soft Focus comedy specials from Jena Friedman.

“I’m just really glad that I got the opportunity to make something, because I’ve loved adult animation my whole life,” Hanawalt added. “I love so many shows, like I love Rick and Morty, Bob’s Burgers. The Simpsons was a huge influence on me, but there are certain topics that don’t get a lot of weight because they’re written about men. Naturally, they’re going to write about what they’re interested in and there are differences.”

And Noelle Stevenson and Lisa Hanawalt are far from alone at Netflix. Earlier this year the title of Gravity Falls and Disenchantment writer Shion Takeuchi’s previously unnamed project was revealed. Inside Job is an upcoming adult animated comedy that takes place in a shadow government where every conspiracy is true. Likewise a recent video promoting Netflix’s animated slate teased two untitled projects from female creators. One comes from Megan Nicole Dong, who has worked on How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Pinky Malinky, and the other is helmed by Elizabeth Ito, who has worked on Adventure Time and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.

Altogether that’s five shows led by female creators all coming from one streaming service. That number is far higher when you include animated projects that have female co-creators.

“[With the exception of Daria co-creator Susie Lewis Lynn] there really haven’t been any female show creators for almost a decade, which is ridiculous and honestly horrifying that the stars need to align this much for this to happen,” Hanawalt said. “I hope [Tuca & Bertie] does well, because it will definitely help open more doors, then I won’t be alone. It’s a lot of pressure to put on one person, to represent what women want in an adult cartoon, because it’s not going to be for every woman.”